Lunch at the Lo’i
When it comes to supporting local farmers and fishermen, Roy Yamaguchi and Alan Wong are all in - all the way up to their knees in mud at a Windward taro patch. It’s the site of an exclusive meal that is part of the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival starting Sept. 29
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be served.
So who are these kupuna? “Oh, they’re friends and just local people who have been eating food like this forever,” says Yamaguchi. “Just local people. It’s like pounding the kalo. So we’re getting a taste of real local food prepared by everyday, local people.
“And that was one of my things: I really wanted people to see the value of what sustainability is.”
According to Kamehameha Schools, the ahupuaa (derived from ahu, an altar of stones, upon which was placed an image resembling the head of a puaa, pig. These altars once marked the boundaries between ahupuaa) system was developed by 15th century chief Mailikukahi, king of Oahu.
Although Hawaiians had perfected the system, it went by the wayside when the sandalwood trade began and different cultures immigrated to the Islands. But if they could do it then, we can do it now.
You could say Yamaguchi is a modern farm-to-table pioneer here on Oahu, as he’s been buying his produce locally since he first opened Roy’s in Hawaii Kai.
“For us, as a restaurant, we’ve been buying local for the past 22 years. I mean basically from the day we opened Roy’s, the original Roy’s, we started buying produce from a local farmer ‘Nalo Farms, Dean Okimoto - a farm nine miles away from the restaurant. So that was one of our best practices of being sustainable and buying locally, which is extremely important to me because we want to make sure that not only do we work with the best products, but we give our guests the best products.”
Same goes for Wong. He’s been buying local throughout his distinguished career as a chef, and is as passionate about and dedicated to sustainability as Yamaguchi.
“I’ve been doing this a long time,” says Wong. “You know, I still go to a party like that on Kauai, where they’ll go out and pick opihi and they go fishing for fish and if they catch one oio, they’ll have lomi oio. If they catch uhu, they’ll have steamed uhu. If they go out and catch tako, octopus, then they’ll make tako poke. Actually I still go to that party and that’s really, really eating off the land and the ocean you go out and work for it.”
Going out to work for it pretty much sums up Barboza and his team’s efforts. They have been toiling tirelessly to restore the ahupuaa, and in the process uncovering the 700-year-old terraced lo’i.
It’s managing the aina as the ancient Hawaiians did: from the mountains to the sea.
“A lot of times people think we’re in Kaneohe. Kaneohe is actually a little bit farther to the right. This is Heeia. Heeia goes from up all the way to the top of this valley over this ridge into the next valley and then extends all the way down to the ocean,” explains Barboza.
“Leased from Kamehameha Schools, our nonprofit manages the land because we use it as an education tool,” he adds. “We have our lo’i we don’t grow kalo for production, we grow it for food, but primarily it’s a kalo bank. We’re trying to preserve the different varieties of kalo so we can have people be able taste and eat all of the different varieties of kalo. We also have about 19 Hawaiian varieties of sweet potato.” And a number of varieties of Hawaiian bananas, which are rare these days.
Plants that belong here. But before Barboza could cultivate his kalo, there was an enormous amount of work to be done. The entire ahupuaa was covered in invasive plants that had to be cleared. In fact, Heeia Stream, by which guest will enjoy their Hawaiian feast, was so overgrown when Barboza first started his restoration that he couldn’t even see it. Now it’s a free-flowing, babbling brook.
Strawberry guava, warabi fern, kiawe these are so plentiful here that most people think they’re native to Hawaii. But they’re invasive species, and Barboza says they’ve replaced our true endemic plants.
“Those things grow unbelievably fast,” he says.
As for Yamaguchi and Wong, they’ll continue the crusade in their own style, cooking up ways to promote our island paradise and the bounty we have to offer.
For more information on the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival or to purchase tickets, go to hawaiifoodandwinefestival.com.
Hawaii Food & Wine Festival Events
Hawaii Food & Wine Festival, Sept. 29-Oct. 1
The festival’s main attractions: three signature evening events featuring 30 celebrity chefs from the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia: “Streets of Asia: Morimoto and Friends presented by Hawaiian Airlines” at Waikiki EDITION, “The 1st Annual Halekulani Master Chefs Dinner” and “Mauka to Makai-Hawaii’s Sustainable Future” at Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort & Spa to benefit the Hawaii Agricultural Foundation and Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head.
Thursday, Sept. 29, 6-10 p.m.
“Streets of Asia: Morimoto and Friends presented by Hawaiian Airlines” at The Waikiki EDITION, $200.
Interpretations of popular dishes by top chefs from Hawaii, Korea, Singapore, Canada and the United States led by Masaharu Morimoto, the renowned chef and restaurateur of Morimoto Waikiki.
Friday, Sept. 30
“Kamehameha Schools presents Bounty of He’eia” 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., $85 (limited to 50). An exclusive, once-in-alifetime opportunity to visit the 800-yearold restored Hawaiian ahupuaa of Heeia, historically reaching across Kaneohe Bay to include Mokapu. The tour will be led by expert cultural practitioners and the stewards of these historic places. An authentic Hawaiian lunch sourced from the bounty of Heeia will end your day. Prepared by Kamehameha Schools ohana (family), your stream-side meal includes wild pig cooked in-ground, steamed sweet potato and taro, smoked and raw preparations of fish and Hawaiian seaweed. A selection of beer and wine will be served.
“Food Entrepreneurs Wanted” Fast Pitch 10-11:30 a.m. The Waikiki EDITION, $40. Think you’ve got the next Groupon, Open Table or dreamed of starting your own restaurant? This is your chance to pitch your creative concept to industry veterans from the restaurant, banking and technology sectors.
“Setting the 21st Century Table in Hawaii” Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., The Waikiki EDITION, $50. This intimate talkstory “farmer’s lunch” showcases the bounty of our islands and the farmers who are working to create a diverse and secure food system here. Grab a Hawaii “bento” featuring farmers Shin Ho of Ho Farms, Monique van der Stroom and Sabrina St. Martin of Naked Cow Dairy, and Gary Mauankea-Forth of MA’O Farms for a round-table talk story session. Co-moderators include Michel Nischan, president of Wholesome Wave, and Ed Kenney, chef and owner of town and Downtown @HISAM.
“Ideas, Innovations and Inspirations”Table Talk 1:15-3 p.m., The Waikiki EDITION, $40. Meet the innovators behind a rooftop garden business, a nonprofit farm whose main crop is people (veggies are second), the chef who with Paul Newman created The Dressing Room and a social entrepreneur changing Hawaii one plate at a time. The party will start with a morning “mash-up” led by a master mixologist who will guide attendees in a “garden to glass” Bloody Mary making contest.
An All-Day Pass for the Sept. 30 day programs is available for $99 per person and does not include the Kamehameha Schools Presents the Bounty of He’eia excursion or the signature evening event, the 1st Annual Master Chefs Gala Dinner Series.
Saturday, Oct. 1
“Private Picks: Master Sommelier’s Favorite Producers” Master Tasting 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Halekulani, $100. Join Larry Stone, Richard Betts and Roberto Viernes for a tasting of some of their most beloved wines as each master sommelier selects his personal favorites from some of the world s top wine producers.
“Two Vineyards, Twelve Grand Cru Wines” Master Tasting 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., Halekulani, $100. The ultimate white event featuring two of the greatest chardonnay vineyards in the world, Corton Charlemagne and Batard Montrachet. The sit-down vertical tasting offers a rare opportunity to experience a comparative tasting of six different vintages from each of these historic vineyards. Master sommeliers Richard Betts, Larry Stone and Roberto Viernes will guide you through the tasting.
DFS Galleria Presents “Like Coffee for Chocolate” 10:30 a.m. to noon, DFS Galleria, $45. For the coffee and chocolate lover, this interactive tasting led by the reigning U.S. barista champion and No. 2 finisher at the 2011 world championships, Pete Licata, is a chance to experience the fine art of pairing coffee with chocolate pastries and confections. At this session you will taste world class Hawaii grown and roasted coffees paired with chocolate desserts made from Waialua Estate cacao.
“Farm to Glass Cocktail Class: Master Mixologists Stir Up Fresh Cocktails” 11 a.m.-noon, Halekulani, $75.
Join master mixologists Francesco Lafranconi and Julie Reiner for a “farm to glass” cocktail session featuring fresh, locally sourced ingredients.
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